ALTERED FATE [CLOSED]

[soldier_in_red]

Character(s): Dilandu, Murphy
Content: Dilandu makes his first foray in the streets of Manhattan and meets Karrin Murphy.
Location: East 54th Street (east of its intersection with Park Avenue)
Time: Early afternoon on Monday.
Warnings: Swearing, destruction of public and/or private property, mentions of alcohol, sexist and mentally unstable teenage

Comments

[justmurphy]

Karrin Murphy suppressed the urge to sigh as she made her way along the nearly-abandoned sidewalk. There were still people living in this area, mostly native Manhattanites that she could see, but they kept mostly indoors if they could help it. That made it easier for her, she supposed, even though every part of her that believed in justice hated to see people forced to stay inside their own homes, like they were living in a warzone.

In some ways, she supposed that was true.

She didn't normally patrol this far North, and Harry would probably throw a fit if he knew she was going without a partner, but let him; he was her friend, not her keeper. She was staying careful, avoiding the shadows and low places where the crabs could overwhelm her, and she had brought a friend: a heavy policeman's baton that she'd picked up from a precinct. It made a nice companion to the fully-loaded pistol she carried

[soldier_in_red]

This place is so different... Not like anything I've ever seen in Gaea... It's probably not Asgard after all. Musing as he walked, Dilandu's delicate face twisted into a thin scowl. He didn't like to be confused or uncertain - he liked control, which he had very little of in this world.

I wonder if Gatti and Shesta and the others survived the fight, he thought, those idiots... I trained them better than that! How could they go and die like a bunch of--"Hey

[justmurphy]

"Good to know," Murphy said, leaving kid off the end of her sentence. She'd seen enough touchy, rebellious teens to recognize one when she saw him, and there was no point in antagonizing him into not accepting help when he might need it. Besides, she'd been here long enough to know that teenagers could be capable of some serious damage. "I'm sorry, but that rank doesn't mean anything to me here," she said. "Or anyone else. This is Mnahattan-part of New York City, on Earth."

[soldier_in_red]

Dilandu scowled at this, but had the good sense not to berate the woman for her tone and general manner. As stubborn as he was, even he knew when he was too far out of his element to risk fighting with someone who might provide him some information

[justmurphy]

"This is Earth," she confirmed, and wondered exactly when it had become normal for her to answer a question like that without blinking at the fact that it was even in question in the first place. "And I'm afraid not. Look, you're not the only new arrival; people keep showing up here, from different places, and so far no one knows why or how to get back. I can't say I know what a...guymelef...is, really."

[soldier_in_red]

"What do you mean, different places?" Scowling, Dilandu crossed his arms over his chest, drumming the fingers of one hand on the opposite forearm. "There's Gaea and the Mystic Moon - Earth. That's it. Are you telling me there are Gaeans here who aren't from Zaibach?" He looked at the woman incredulously, silently daring her to challenge his knowledge of the way things were.

"And another thing," the silver-haired soldier went on, before his new acquaintence had a chance to reply. "Is this some kind of warzone? It looks like it's been evacuated and a pack of land dragons came through!"

[justmurphy]

Murphy blinked. "Around here, we've just got Earth and the regular moon, but it's just rock and light gravity. Nothing really mystic about it, though some will argue otherwise." She debated for a moment about how to explain this. Maybe this was something else they should plan for in advance. Harry was good at pamphlets, so maybe he could whip up something. Random World-Switching and You: A User's Guide.

"I don't know if it's different dimensions, or realities, or whatever," she said. "All I know if that people have been arriving here who shouldn't be here, people from places that have never heard of Manhattan. And in my world, that's damn near impossible. And a warzone..." She sighed. "That's essentially correct. A large monster attacked the city a few months ago, and it's apparently been this way ever since. I only arrived after, though."

[soldier_in_red]

"Bullshit," Dilandu snorted, but something in his eyes hinted that he wasn't entirely certain of his own bravado.

At least the idea of a giant monster was something he could accept. There were no dragons in Zaibach - and hadn't been for decades - but far to the west, in Fanelia, land dragons were common. Dilandu had taken his men there to hunt the beasts in the early days of their training, which was why they had become known as the Dragonslayers.

"...So let's say I believe you, woman. Let's assume that this is a world other than the one I come from or the Mystic Moon, and that you've got a monster problem." Lifting his chin defiantly, Dilandu asked dryly, "In that case, should we really be standing around in the street waiting for things to fix themselves? Where can I get weapons, provisions, things like that? Is the monster coming back any time soon?"

[justmurphy]

Murphy narrowed her eyes but kept calm. "We're working on it. If you go to Rai Rai Kamen down in the Village, Mia Fey can help you with the location of some supply depots." She fishes in her pocket for a small crawled map she'd made for occasions like this. She only had a couple, so she made a note to stop at an abandoned supply store soon to make copies.

"Here," she said, and passed it over. "As for your other question, no one knows when the monster will come. We're just trying to keep things safe in the meantime. I can take care of myself, trust me."

[soldier_in_red]

Dilandu accepted the map, glancing over it quickly. As with the labels he'd been reading earlier, back in the abandoned apartment, he could read the locations and notes on the map; he wondered how that was possible, given the woman's claim that he was now in another reality.

"So can I." Stuffing the map into a pocket beneath the upper edge of his gaurd skirt, Dilandu gave his strange acquaintence an unpleasant grin. He knew he was young - just fifteen, the age at which most Gaean cultures considered a person to be an adult - but he'd been fighting things practically his entire life. Besides, talent counted for a lot more than age or experience... and he had plenty of talent